Teaser: Kremlin Trojan Horses 3.0

Sweden’s leadership in pushing European values in former Soviet republics, combined with the end of its neutrality, has placed the country in a values-based conflict of interest with Russia. Sweden faces a time of political turmoil. In recent years the migration crisis in Europe has come to dominate Swedish politics, with the debate growing more polarized and an increasing number of voters turning to antiestablishment parties.

Current opinion polls indicate the national election in September 2018 will be a tight race between the current government coalition—the Social Democrats and the Green Party with support from the Left Party—and the center-right Alliance for Sweden, consisting of the Moderate Party, the Liberals, the Centre Party, and the Christian Democrats, which formed governments from 2006 to 2014. The far right Sweden Democrats has grown substantially, riding a wave of discontent with the country’s generous immigration policy and inability to handle migration-related problems; the party is now firmly established as Sweden’s second most popular. Neither the current nor the former governing bloc are expected to secure a majority in the Riksdag, Sweden’s parliament.